Collapsible tube and cut-off therefor



A. H. SAUNDERS Dec. 11 1923.

COLLAPSIBLE TUBE AND CUT-OFF THEREFOR Filed Feb. 24. I922 Tubes and Cut-Gris Therefor,

siips Federated Dec 3111, 31923;.

UNITED STATES PATENT @FFTQE ARTHUR H. SAUNDERS, 0F RICHMOND, VIRGINIA.

COLLAPSIBLE TUBE AND CUT-GEE THEREFOR.

Application filed February 24, 1922. V $erial no. teaser.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that T, ARTHUR H. SAUNDERS, a citizen of the United States, residing at Richmond, in the county of Henrico and State of Virginia, have invented certan new and useful Improvements in Collapsible of which the :toiiowing is a specification.

The coiiapsihie or deformable tube, to which. these improvements relate, has long since hecome the most popuiar type of container for such materiais as paints, pastes, and other semi-fluctuant commodities, owing to the fa'ciiity oi dispensing the contents and to the large number of other advantages which do not require specific mention here. There is, however, one particular drawback possessed by these articles, and that hes in the form 0" the conventionai closure empioyed for these tubes, the removahie cap.

it is recognized that the unscrewing rescrewing of the cap of the tube every time the contents are dispensed is quite trouhiesome, not inirequentiy the cap :crom fingers and is either iost or dropped upon the door, hecoming contamiohviousiy, therefore, forming a rather unsan tary ciosure means. The user, for this reason, is tempted to and often does omit to r the cap upon the tube, and among other results is that such omission affects the characteristics of the contents of such commodities as tooth pastes and paints.

I am weii aware that many expedients have heen resorted to for the purpose of overcoming these disadvantages, among which may mentioned the enlargement of the cap so as to prevent the same from passing through the traps of basins, sinks, etc, and more p ticuiariy the provision of a chain or simiiar connection for the ca by means or which to secure it to the ho y or the tuhe, hut stiii the necessity of screwing and unscrewing the cap is present. @ther e quite a departure from the ordinary ype of tuhe manui octered and are too crpensive or impracticci commercial standpoint.

"With this in view, the oioiect o present invention is provide a novei term of cicsure means having permanent connection with the tuhe hod which wiii per its tree and ready disp acement to ope. the tube and to close the same, and when closed will the best condition to preserve the desired properties of the substances.

It may be further stated that another object in view is to provide a closure means of such aconstruction and arrangement as to tightly engage over the mouth or bore of the tuhe and will not be iiahie to bending or breakage in the natural handiing of the contamer.

These and such other objects as may hereinafter appear are attained by the novei construction, combination and arrangement of parts to he hereinafter specifically described and ciaimed.

Reference wiii now he had to the accompanying drawings forming ampart of this specification, wherein:

- Figure 1 is an elevation of a coiiapsihie tube having applied thereto my improved ciosure means. 4

Figure 2 is an enlarged detaii view showing more cieariy the ciosure means in its ciosed position.

detaii view of the ciosure Figure 6 is an eniarged view simiie to o .1 Figures 2 and i and CilSQiOSli'lg' a runner modification of the closure means.

Figure 7 is a detaii view of the ciosure means shown in Figures and 5.

Figure 8 is a detaii view of the 'form of closure means employed in the construction disclosed in Figure 6.

Figure 9 is a fragmentary vertical sectionai view through the mouth of the tuhe and showing the ciosed position of the cutoti member empioyed in the form of tube shown in Figure 2. 6

Throughout the i oiiowing deter scription and on the severai figure drawing, simiior parts are to Toy iihe reference characters.

Referring to the drawing, 1 the hody portion or the ordinary coiiapsihie tube, and 2 the mouth or neck portion of the same, In providing for these improvements the mouth 2 of the tube is out into ortlon from one si e substantially half way through are of the tube at the month At one side of the mouth the metal is constructed so as to form a pair of lugs 3 through which the pintle 4 passes to connect the closure member in a permanent manner to the mouth of the tube, as shown clearly in Figure 2.

By reference to Figure 3 it will be observed that the closure means -5 is of segmental form, having at one end the pintle receiving eye 6 and at its opposite end the finger engaging projection 7 which projects slightly from the side of the. tube to enable the user to swing the cut-off to and fro upon its pivot. Preferably I provide an extension 8 on the inner edge of this cut-ofi' so that when in closed position the bore 9 of the tube, referring to Fi ure 9 of the drawing, is effectively covered, the cut-off being constructed to snugly fit within the groove or cut-out portion of the mouth hereinbefore described and thus frictionally held in place. At the top the bore 9 of the tube is flattened as indicated at 9 so as to produce the ribboning of the contents as they are squeezed from the tube in a well-known manner.

It will be apparent from the foregoing that a very simple arrangement is provided for both cutting 05 the flow of the contents from the tube and maintaining the tube closed, the closure means being permanently connected to the body of the tube in a simple manner and therefore not liable to be lost or misplaced or dropped during use. By virtue of its mounting in the lateral cut-out or groove of the mouth or neck of the tube, the likelihood of the cut-off becoming bent is reduced to a minimum.

In Figures 4.- and 5 I have depicted a slight modification in the construction of the. cut-oil. Here again this member is pivotally connected at oneside of the mouth, but the topsurface of the cut-off 5 is provided with a boss or upstanding projection 10, arcuate in form, and designed to function somewhat as a wedge primarily for the purpose of completely expelling the contents from the entrance or mouth of the bore when the cut-off is moved into closed position, so that no portion of the substance will remain at the entrance to be exposed to contamination or to form a crust which would render subsequent discharge of the contents diflicult. The top of the neck is suitably cut out so as to receive this'boss 10, as shown clearly in Figure 4.

The cut-ofi', it should be observed, at the pivotal end, is provided preferably with a shoulder or stop extension 11 which will limit the outward swinging movement of the cut-ofi' to the extent that it will only swing partially on the pivot or just sufiicient to leave a narrow, flattened opening at the mouth through which the contents are discharged, an opening, in fact, equivalent to the siot opening .12 shown in the con struction of Figure 2. This shoulder pro-' jection may be applied to all forms of these Furthermore, it will be observed that the cut-ofl 5' of Figures 5 and 7 is con structed with a small extension 5 which will overlie and completely close the bore.

of the tube. This extension functions primarily as a-cut-ofi, while the boss 10 acts to expel from the entrance the surplus material, as above stated. I

A still further modification of that form of the cut-ofl' of Figure 3 is disclosed in Figures 6 and 8 of the drawing, wherein the segmental member 5" is formed with a bendable extension 13. This extension 13 is first bent upwardly and then over horizontally so that the horizontal portion will lie over the discharge opening 12 and eflectively close this opening when the cut-0E is in its closed position. Obviously this prevents dust from gaining entrance into the short section of the bore immediately located at the outlet between the top surface of the tube neck and the cut-ofi seated in the lateral groove.

Other modifications may readily be made within the purview of this invention, and the scope of the claims hereto appended, without departing from the spirit of the invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. The combination with a collapsible tube of the class described having one end formed with a discharge opening and laterally cut to provide a seat with a diametric wall, of a closure member pivotally connected at one side to swing within said seat and engage said wall, said member being provided with a portion to cover the discharge opening of the tube.

2. The combination with a collapsible tube of the class described, the discharge portion of which is formed with a bore and cut through from one side to a point beyond the bore of the tube and formed with an abutting wall, of a cut ofi member movable in said out and having a face to engage said wall and a projected portion to intercept and close the bore of the tube.

3. The combination with a collapsible tube of the class described, having its discharge portion formed with a bore and cut transversely from one side to a point intercepting the bore of the tube to provide a seat having an end wall, of a segmental closure member hingedly connected to the tube at one side of the mouth to enter said seat and engage said wall, said closure member having an extension to overlie said bore and seat in a portion of the out beyond the bore.

4. The combination with a collapsible tube of the class described having a mouth and discharge bore, of a closure member nermeee the entrance to the bore 51 maining material.

5. The combination of the tube any re- With a collapsible tube of the class described, having a discharge bore and the mouth thereof cut through laterally to an d. intercepting the bore to form a seat, a segmental cut-0H slidably mounted in said seat, and having upstanding thereform a projection constituting means for closing that portion of the the cut-0E when bore of the tube lying above in closed position.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature.

ARTHUR H. SAUNDERS. 

